This and That - in random order

Baby McKell is doing well and growing fast. When babies are born they lose some of their body weight, so they end up leaving the hospital at a lower weight than when they were born. Ideally, they will return to at least birth weight by their two week check-up. McKell was 7 lbs 7 oz at birth, 6 lbs 15 oz when discharged from the hospital, and up to a whopping 8 lbs at her two week doctor visit. A+ for weight gain! No other issues to report at this point either.

Big sister Brenna has gotten the raw end of the deal this time around - having to adjust to a new baby at the same time her two older sisters/playmates returned to school full time. She's been a lot more moody and ornery than ever before, but is beginning to get used to this new normal. She does love McKell though and frequently asks, "Where's that baby?"

 

 Ashlyn decided it was time to chop her hair, and here's the result. Super cute length for her, and SO easy to keep it looking nice. Random side note, after her hair was cut I went up to the cash register at the salon to pay and was informed that some lady who had just left had paid for Ashlyn's cut. Hopefully she just thought Ashlyn was really cute, and not that I was some poor single mother who could use a hand-out (if the latter, I'll have to work harder to be more presentable when going out in public).

Russ has been extra good about helping out at home and taking on extra jobs - like painting fingernails - since McKell was born. (P.S. Brenna is in the buff only because Russ thought it would be easier to get stray polish off her skin than off her clothes.)

My parents came to stay with us for a week, which was super wonderful. They cooked, they cleaned, they shopped, they played, the rocked - basically they just took really good care of all of us they whole time they were here. Best. Parents. Ever!!!

Still lots of baby love going on around here.

And here's our new little princess - Sunday 09 September 2012.

Baby Love

There is no shortage of love for baby McKell around here.

If you missed our Facebook posts, she was born Tuesday, 21 August 2012 (11 days early!!!) at 10:02 PM (about 15 minutes after Russ arrived at the hospital - close call there). She weighed in at 7 lbs. 7 oz. and was 20 in. long. We absolutely ADORE her!

New Specs

SOOOO adorable in her new glasses. The smile, unfortunately, is deceiving. She's not a fan of having them on full-time. And keeping a 2 1/2 year old's glasses clean is a nearly impossible endeavor.

Progress!

Monday, July 23rd: First Day of Swimming Lessons

Kaylee is spotted crying at the side of the pool - terrified to fully submerge.


Friday, August 10th: End of Week 3 of Swimming Lessons (with 1 more week still to come)

TA DA!!!

Pretty cute little bunch of swimmers, huh?

Not the baby anymore.

Brenna was pretty excited to try out the new infant car seat when I took it out of the box this morning.

Hopefully she'll be even more excited when there's a little sister sitting in it (you always wonder how the reigning "baby" will react to being dethroned).

And here's a fun picture of Kaylee doing the same thing just before Ashlyn was born.

They're all growing up way too fast.

Ashlyn came to us last Saturday evening with not one, but TWO loose teeth. Kaylee lost her first tooth a few months after turning 5, so I shouldn't have been surprised, but I was anyway. Isn't 5 too little to be losing teeth?

One of them was pretty wiggly, so Russ asked if she wanted a little help (i.e. dental floss) getting it out. She agreed to give it a try, but stopped when it started to hurt. But by then the tooth was literally dangling in her mouth. The next morning she had a hard time when she tried to eat breakfast, so she asked Russ to get the floss out again. Success! Here's the video. Tears turn to joy pretty quickly.

And here's the darling little holey smile. :)

Bad Angry Birds

It's pretty warm here right now. Russ rides his bike to and from work. As a result, he's pretty hot and tired when he gets home each day.

So he generally goes right into our bedroom, changes his clothes, turns on the overhead fan, and rests on the bed for a little while. He usually plays Sudoku on his phone or checks his email, etc.

This week Brenna has taken to joining him in his evening ritual. She props herself up on a couple pillows right next to Russ, finds some miscellaneous item to act as her "phone" and declares that she is playing "bad angry birds". It's pretty darn cute. And I don't think her Daddy minds the companionship.